Favorite Artists: Diego Velasquez

The Spanish baroque artist Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velasquez, 1599-1660, is another of my favorite painters. Born in Seville, his father was a Portuguese Jew and his mother a Spanish aristocrat, and he was raised as a part of Jewish converso family. He studied art and made a name for himself in Seville, then went to Madrid in 1622, where he made a distinct impression on King Philip IV. He was eventually named as the King's artist and was given exclusive portrait rights to the king (other artists were not only excluded, but their paintings of the king were withdrawn from circulation).